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Housekeeping

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Getting rid of established sweaty whiff in clothing - can it be done??

80 replies

GlomOfNit · 06/03/2023 10:40

This is going to make me sound like a goblin, but I have a problem with smelly sweating. Sad I've tried most deodorants out there, but very little will stop my pits smelling by evening. Michum, in particular, is useless! I shower rigorously daily and use soap and tea tree oil shower gel on my armpits.

So a lot of my favourite clothing has permanently whiffy armpit areas. Sad I'm a reluctant binner of clothing because of the environmental impact of binning and buying again, but there are a few things I've had to retire because - fresj out of the wash - they smell as soon as my body heat has warmed up the arm pit area. I very seldom wear something I've had close to my armpits more than once before washing, which bugs me because it's not dirty as such, but I have to wash that often to try and stave off the inevitable permanent pit-stink. Some things take the smell worse than others. Fat Face Simone dresses, for instance (which I live in). Some cotton items but not everything made of cotton. Synthetic thermal vests (uniqlo and M&S) which I also live in, under pinafores and dungarees - they get really smelly though I wash after each use.

I have some lovely Seasalt PJs, the fine cotton lawn ones, which are pretty much unusable now (perimenopausal night sweats, not wholly controlled by HRT) and I'm really careful with new clothing, but it's really demoralising.

Is there anything that can be done to revive the things that I feel I've ruined? I wash at 40 for colours, use Bioleaf or similar 'eco' liquid detergent (I like using this because I buy refills at a local zero waste/fair trade shop and I like to support them, but happy to buy something else if it works) and an 'eco' fabric softener. My family's clothing doesn't come out with stinky pits so it's me, not the washing machine. :-( We currently dry things on radiators and a Lakeland heated airer, will dry outside when winter's buggered off.

Vinegar? Special sports wash?? Bicarb??

OP posts:
halfsiesonapotnoodle · 11/03/2023 10:33

Biological washing powder for sure. Persil bio is very good.

halfsiesonapotnoodle · 11/03/2023 10:34

...meant to say Persil bio POWDER, not liquid.

Pinacalola · 11/03/2023 10:36

I use bio powder, 40 degree wash and a cap full of vinegar works every time. Generally wash at 30, but have to at 40 for sports wear

SignOnTheWindow · 11/03/2023 10:40

Soak clothes first in hottish water with a couple of capfuls of Dettol laundry sanitiser, then wash as normal.

It got rid of some really old, ingrained stink on DH's gilet.

JobbieBobbie · 11/03/2023 11:06

I use vinegar twice - I spray underarms with vinegar prior to washing (with an eco liquid), and I use vinegar instead of fabric softener.

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